Tanzania: Air Travellers Increase By 4pc

By Masato Masato

PASSENGERS at Zanzibar Airports Authority (ZAA) rose by about four per cent to 1,220,891 in the

July 2019-March 2020 period from 1,176,868 travelers in the July 2018-March 2019 period.

Infrastructure, Communications and Transport Minister Dr Sira Ubwa Mamboya told the House of Representatives that Abeid Amani Karume International Airport (AAKIA) and Pemba Airport handled 1,147,764 and 73,127 passengers, respectively.

She said out of the total passengers, 733,836 were international travellers and 487,055 were on domestic trips.

Passengers on transit were 130,715, with 125,255 of them passing through AAKIA and 5,460 travellers through Pemba.

The minister said during the nine-month period to last March, the authority handled 1,873 tons of cargo, a 29 per cent increase from the 1,448 tons in the same period that ended in March, 2019.

ZAA serviced 54 airlines, according to the minister.

Moving her portfolio's 2020/2021 budget estimates, Dr Mamboya said Zanzibar Maritime Authority (ZMA), registered impressive performance, with domestic registration-Tanzania Zanzibar Registry-of 18 ships totaling 9,238 Gross Register Tonnage (GRT) as of March 2020.

The authority also issued licenses to 449 small marine vessels, provided discharge books to 387 seafarers, 485 licenses to marine pilots and 11 licenses to marine engineers during the period under review.

ZMA further certified 108 contracts for seafarers in international ships through DANAOS Company and endorsed 212 seafarers working in ships with international registration.

The minister asked the house to approve the ministry's 190,975,000/- budget, with 13,565,600/-and 177,410,000/-allocated to recurrent and development expenditures, respectively.